THE WIDOW of London Bridge terrorist Rachid Redouane is too heartbroken to tell his daughter that her “daddy is in hell”.
Charisse O’Leary, 43, is bringing up the couples’ six-year-old daughter after her husband killed eight people in the horror attack on June 3, 2017.
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Redouane, 30, and accomplices Khuram Butt, 27, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were lawfully killed by police in the vile incident.
The twisted terrorist had taken his daughter to collect the van used in the attack, handing her back to Charisse three hours before the slayings.
Now Charisse is struggling to tell her daughter the truth, after previously saying that she would “always be the daughter of a terrorist.”
Speaking to The Sunday Mirror she said: “She wants to know about her daddy and I tell her he got run over.
“She thinks he’s in heaven and what I want to say is that he’s in hell. I can’t, not yet.
“I’m terrified that someone will tell her first or that she’ll come across it on the internet.
“I hope she doesn’t hate me when I tell her. I hope she doesn’t go off the rails.
“All I ever wanted is to protect her. I still get really bad days, where I think I don’t want to be here.
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“But I can’t leave her. She’s my rock, I live for her – she’s such a little character. I still can’t process it.
“Someone I was with for seven years – I thought I knew him.”
Charisse also has a picture of Redouane and his wedding ring in a “memory box”, which was returned by police which she plans to show her daughter eventually.
She has been left terrified to go out after being called a “terrorist” while out with her daughter, and being forced to relocate away from her family.
The mum has also struck up a friendship with one of the victims of her husband’s horrific attack after meeting at an inquest into their deaths.
French tourist Christine Delcros, who suffered a smashed pelvis, arrived from Paris the morning of the attack with her fiancé Xavier Thomas, before he was killed in Borough Market.
I hope she doesn’t hate me when I tell her. I hope she doesn’t go off the rails.
Charisse
Christine, 50, went on to find new love with Sebastien Besatti, a survivor of the 2015 Bataclan terror attacks which left 130 dead in Paris.
The brave survivor asked Charisse family liaison officer to meet up after hearing her evidence at the inquest, and the two women have bonded ever since.
Charisse added: “It was difficult. I got a bit scared, I didn’t want to say no but was nervous about how she would react to see me. I had seen her in court, we were sitting opposite each other in the public gallery.
“I was taken to a room at the court. Christine had a translator there. Straight away she hugged me, and we were crying. We were together about 15 minutes.
“I always blamed myself. She told me ‘live your life and don’t blame yourself ’. She said my evidence was so moving.
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“I always felt everyone blamed me because of what he did, so to hear that from a survivor was nice. She was a lovely lady.”
Charisse later contacted Christine on Facebook to thank her for her kind words, and the pair have stayed in touch.
They speak every anniversary of the attack, as well as at Christmas, with Charisse always letting her know she is thinking of her.
And just days ago, Christine messaged Charisse to say: “Even if the tributes remind me of my traumas, I don’t forget our beautiful meeting.”
She told Charisse her daughter is a “ray of light”, adding: “Live each day intensely as if it were the last.”
Christine added: “Charisse was involuntarily linked to this tragedy. I wanted to free her of guilt for the sake of her beautiful daughter.
“We hugged tight and cried together, exchanged kind words and parted with lighter hearts.”
Of the terrorists, she said: “They did not win. Love was stronger. Now we support each other.”
